Da retórica à prática: análise das dinâmicas de acesso das mulheres a espaços de tomada de decisão dentro dos partidos políticos moçambicanos a partir das comissões políticas da Frelimo, Renamo e MDM (2014-2024)

Abstract

Women’s political participation in decision-making spaces is a cornerstone of democratic deepening and inclusive development. However, despite representing nearly half of party membership, women continue to hold only a fraction of leadership positions, a global pattern that also holds true in Africa and Mozambique. Thus, analyzing women’s access to central organs such as the executive committees, is key to understanding how the power and gender dynamics are configured within the political arena. This study addresses a gap in the literature, which is largely focused on parliamentary and executive representation, while leaving the intraparty dimension, particularly central decision-making, underexplored. The theoretical framework, grounded in Historical and Feminist Institutionalism, examines how institutional legacies, gender norms, and female agency shape women’s access to the executive committees of Frelimo, Renamo, and MDM between 2014 and 2024, while also considering historical and institutional antecedents since the formation of these parties, which help to explain the persistence and transformation of gender dynamics within them. Through qualitative methodology, using documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews, the study reveals that, despite the historical presence of women in all three parties and the creation of internal women’s organizations, their participation in executive committees remains limited and often symbolic, reproducing entrenched gender hierarchies. Yet, instances of agency show how women have claimed and secured spaces, albeit unevenly across parties. The study concludes that female underrepresentation results from the interaction of institutional rules, informal networks, and cultural norms, but also that opportunities for gradual change exist through internal and external pressures